June 27, 2005 - Every videogame character is a star in his or her own game, but what happens when the walls are taken down and the soldiers, fighters, gunmen and others get to fight against everyone else? Then, and only then, do the true badasses emerge. In the name of science we have created a list of badass characters from PS2 games, both exclusive and cross-platform, and will be opening up the process to you, the knowledgeable reader. You think you know who is the baddest of them all? Then step right up and fill out our handy polls.

March 1, 2005 - After a downward spiral that took the Mortal Kombat series to places it never wanted to go, Midway's number one franchise finally made a comeback in 2002 with the release of Deadly Alliance; a completely revamped and re-envisioned interpretation of John Tobias and Ed Boon's arcade fighting vision. Finally moving beyond the presentational aspects that had both endeared and reviled it in the eyes of casual and hardcore fighting fans alike (this time only under Boon's supervision), Deadly Alliance did something that the earlier Mortal Kombats had never done before: it put gameplay before glamour. As a result the fans responded overwhelmingly and it didn't take long before Deadly Alliance was quickly regarded as one of the strongest fighting games of the season.

February 4, 2005 - Publisher Midway Entertainment this morning announced that it has moved up the ship date for the GameCube version of Mortal Kombat: Deception. The title, formerly scheduled for release on March 7, is now slated to debut about a week earlier on February 28, the company said.

January 31, 2005 - For GameCube owners, 2004 was a stellar year. During the 12-month period some of the very best games this generation debuted on Nintendo's console, including everything from the massively anticipated shooter sequel Metroid Prime 2 Echoes to the remarkably enjoyable role-playing game Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. There was Pikmin 2, Baiten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean, and Mario Power Tennis. And there were literally dozens of other great offerings from both Nintendo and third parties combined.
In 2005, the lineup has thinned. There aren't as many third party games in development as there were last year for GameCube, but the console will still see solid support from major publishers including Electronic Arts. There are some very important reasons to own a GameCube through the next 12 months, the biggest of which is the GCN-exclusive juggernaut known currently as The Legend of Zelda. For the Nintendo hardcore, this game alone is more than enough reason to make sure their GameCubes never grow dusty. But there are a wide number of other titles sure to please system owners, including everything from a new Star Fox game to GCN-specific versions of Mortal Kombat: Deception and NBA Street V3.
Below, IGNcube takes at some of the games we believe will keep GCN owners coming back for more well into next year.

January 25, 2005 - GameCube owners looking for a fun new 3D fighter are in luck: Midway's Mortal Kombat: Deception is scheduled to hit Nintendo's console on March 7, or a little more than a month from now. The fighter arrives several months after the release of the PlayStation 2 and Xbox builds, both of which featured online components sorely missing from the GameCube port. However, the fighter is still packed full of classic and new franchise characters, speedy brawl mechanics, and over-the-top gore and fatalities. In addition, Deception boasts a wide range of new features to the series, including Chess and Puzzle Kombat, a Konquest mode, a Krypt where items can be purchased, and a Kontent section that houses all sorts of extra goodies. On top of everything else, there are at least two unique reasons for GameCubers to be excited about this new rendition of the game: the exclusive inclusion of formidable boss characters Goro and Shao Kahn as playable fighters from the very start.
The reviews have already come in for Mortal Kombat: Deception. Readers who check gamestats.com will see that both the PS2 and Xbox versions of the game have earned an average 8.0 press rating and a gamer rating in the upper 8s. A solid 3D fighter, in other words. And since the GameCube version of Deception is just a port of these games, minus online play and plus two characters, it features most of the ingredients that earned its predecessors high marks. The question is, how competently has the game been ported to Nintendo's console?

January 10, 2005 - What a way to start the year. One day before the anticipated release of Resident Evil 4, Nintendo revealed its official lineup for 2005. Along with Resident Evil 4, Sega's action/RPG hybrid Virtua Quest will ship early January.

December 23, 2004 - In an interview with Nintendo's monthly magazine Nintendo Power, Mortal Kombat series co-creator Ed Boon confirmed that the GameCube version of Mortal Kombat: Deception will include two additional playable characters: Goro and Shao Kahn.

October 26, 2004 - During a chat event hosted by the website Mortal Kombat Online, Mortal Kombat: Deception lead Ed Boon and company spokesperson Tim DaRosa fielded questions from fans. Naturally, the topic of the upcoming GameCube version came up, at which point the Midway reps promised good things to come.
"The GameCube version [of MK Deception] will definitely include some new features some that you may have already heard about and others that we've kept under wraps," confided DaRosa. "I'd venture to say that excl characters will definitely be a good 'possibility' and you can also look forward to some new gameplay features more on that later."

October 1, 2004 - Midway's sixth Mortal Kombat title, Mortal Kombat: Deception is just over a month away and judging by our e-mails, readers are more excited than ever about it. To celebrate, IGN and Midway have teamed up to bring you a special feature that will span the next several weeks and bring you a small little taste of what players can expect in one key area -- the fatalities.

September 24, 2004 - Midway's sixth Mortal Kombat title, Mortal Kombat: Deception is just over a month away and judging by our e-mails, readers are more excited than ever about it. To celebrate, IGN and Midway have teamed up to bring you a special feature that will span the next several weeks and bring you a small little taste of what players can expect in one key area -- the fatalities

September 20, 2004 - When you're one of the biggest and most recognizable videogame franchises in the world, even the slightest little morsel of information can make a big difference in the lives of your fan base; specifically when dealing with characters and storylines. In the case of Midway's upcoming online fighting sequel Mortal Kombat: Deception, however, a little bit of info just didn't seem like enough.
And so, your friends here at IGN have teamed up with Midway to bring you an ongoing profile series dedicated to the cast of what can only be described as the biggest Mortal Kombat title yet. Officially designatedThe Kombatants of MK: Deception, our irregular collection of profiles will not only tell you what fighters you can expect to see in the next iteration of Midway's competitive slugger, but also, the history of that character and how they came to be in the first place.
To help us, we've enlisted the talents of series co-creator Ed Boon and various other important figures in the franchise's history in a series of 90-second videos dedicated to each and every fighter. In them, you'll learn all about the origins of that particular combatant, why they were made, how they work, and a couple of other little tidbits that you may not have already known. Best of all, they're narrated by the guest stars themselves. What more do you need?
In this week's installment, we take a closer look at combatants Nightwolf, Kenshi, and Darrius. Simply click on the picture of each character to the right of their profile to download their video, or access them from the media page below.

September 10, 2004 - Midway's sixth Mortal Kombat title, Mortal Kombat: Deception is just over a month away and judging by our e-mails, readers are more excited than ever about it. To celebrate, IGN and Midway have teamed up to bring you a special feature that will span the next several weeks and bring you a small little taste of what players can expect in one key area -- the fatalities.

September 8, 2004 - When you're one of the biggest and most recognizable videogame franchises in the world, even the slightest little morsel of information can make a big difference in the lives of your fan base; specifically when dealing with characters and storylines. In the case of Midway's upcoming online fighting sequel Mortal Kombat: Deception, however, a little bit of info just didn't seem like enough.